Racy novelist Jilly Cooper has turned her passions to the defence of badgers
threatened with a Government cull.

The writer, who lives in the Cotswolds, has signed up to a list of residents who have pledged not to allow the creatures to be killed on their land as part of a pilot scheme this autumn.

Ministers say the move is necessary to bring down levels of bovine tuberculosis, which was behind the slaughter of 25,000 cattle in England last year.

But it has sharply divided opinion in the countryside, with the National Farmers’ Union backing the cull but many animal lovers believing it will be “brutal” and that it does not present a solution to the problem.

Now Cooper has become one of 82 landowners in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire who have declared their properties to be “no cull zones”.

The writer, who has 14 acres around her 14th century home in Bisley, said: “We have masses of badger setts in our woods and have done a lot of research and passionately believe that the badgers are not giving TB to cows.

Cooper’s announcement is the latest boost for the Stroud 100 campaign, which aims to sign up 100 names in a bid to make the cull logistically difficult.

On Monday night, Stroud’s town council unanimously agreed to join, saying it would not allow badgers to be killed on its land, with one council member saying it was “intensive agriculture” rather than badgers that was to blame for the spread of TB.

Jeanne Berry, founder member of the group, said: “We’re over the moon at getting 1,000 acres so soon in our campaign.

“While everyone recognises that TB in cattle is a terrible disease, they also know that culling badgers is not the real answer.”

The campaign was launched after it was announced last month that pilot culls would take place in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset.

Ministers believe shooting all badgers in a controlled area could stop the spread of bovine TB, which is passed on by badgers.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman confirmed earlier this week that the pilot culls would go ahead this autumn. They could pave the way for the creation of a further 10 cull areas in England in 2013.

However the move has outraged animal lovers and the slaughter has been described as “expensive, futile and pointless” by the Badger Trust.

It says high-profile supporters including Sir David Attenborough, Brian May and Joanna Lumley back its stance.

Such is the anger over the cull that farmers who agree to take part in it have been told they will remain anonymous, amid fears they could become targets for extremists.

Adam Henson, the Countryfile presenter who has his own farm in Gloucestershire, received death threats after reporting on the issue last year.

A £4 million security operation is expected to be put in place for the pilots.

They were put back until late autumn after police chiefs warned that forces would struggle to provide the manpower required to prevent clashes between protesters and farmers if they took place in the run-up to this summer’s Olympics.